Sanford's Plan Gets Nod From The State

It's The First City In Seminole To Have A Comprehensive Plan Gain Final Approval.

January 2, 1992|By Gary Taylor, Of The Sentinel Staff

Sanford city planner Jay Marder is breathing a little easier these days since the state has given its blessings to the city's comprehensive plan.

''This is kind of a big milestone,'' said Marder, who worked closely for five years with the Sanford Planning and Zoning Commission and the Altamonte Springs consulting firm of Solin and Associates in formulating the plan.

The Growth Management Act of 1985 requires governmental bodies to make major revisions in their comprehensive plans. Sanford is Seminole's first city to have its plan found in compliance by the state.

Three Seminole cities - Longwood, Casselberry and Winter Springs - have yet to submit final plans for consideration, although they have sent proposed plans to the state.

Of the 458 local governments in the state, 161 have plans that were found in compliance; the plans of 98 others were accepted through agreements with the state. Another 45 are nearing approval.

A proposed plan was submitted by Sanford on the April 1 deadline, and the city received 29 pages of objections and questions about the plan in July.

''Most were relatively minor, some were misunderstandings and a lot of it was clarifications,'' Marder said. ''By and large, they liked our plan.''

The most serious comments dealt with the transportation element of the plan. Because a section of Interstate 4 between State Road 46 and County Road 46-A is now in the city, the plan had to deal with that road.

The city initially prepared the plan using urban standards. But the state considers the area north of County Road 46-A to be rural, so projected levels of service had to be changed, Marder said.

''There's no difference in the traffic count on one side of 46-A or the other,'' Marder said. ''It's the same cars.'' Still, the state required the changes.

Marder worked closely with the state Department of Community Affairs to make sure all of the problems had been worked out before the final version was adopted by the City Commission.

The plan must be reviewed in five years. But that is really an ongoing project because the plan is updated from time to time as new lands are annexed and zoning classifications are changed, Marder said.